Inter-platform management of computing resources

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method includes identifying a primary computing platform, identifying one or more secondary computing platforms, and identifying a requesting virtual server. The requesting virtual server resides on the primary computing platform and is associated with one or more requesting clients. One or more donating virtual servers are identified. The donating virtual servers reside on the primary computing platform and are associated with one or more donating clients. One or more external virtual servers are identified. The external virtual servers reside on the secondary computing platforms. A resource donation scenario is determined. The resource donation scenario includes one or more resource exchanges between the requesting virtual server and the donating virtual servers. A resource adjustment scenario is determined. The resource adjustment scenario includes one or more resource exchanges between the external virtual servers. A corresponding computer program product and computer system are also disclosed.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to multi-platform andmulti-tenant computing environments and more particularly to resourcemanagement in those environments.

In multi-platform and multi-tenant computing environments, resourcemanagement is important to efficient use of the computing resourcesprovided by those environments. Developers and users of multi-platformand multi-tenant computing environments continue to incur costs arisingout of managing resources associated with multiple clients and residingon multiple computing platforms.

SUMMARY

A computer-implemented method includes identifying a primary computingplatform, identifying one or more secondary computing platforms, andidentifying a requesting virtual server. The requesting virtual serverresides on the primary computing platform and is associated with one ormore requesting clients. The computer-implemented method furtherincludes identifying one or more donating virtual servers. The one ormore donating virtual servers reside on the primary computing platformand are associated with one or more donating clients. Thecomputer-implemented method further includes identifying one or moreexternal virtual servers. The one or more external virtual serversreside on the one or more secondary computing platforms. Thecomputer-implemented method further includes determining a resourcedonation scenario. The resource donation scenario includes one or moreresource exchanges between the requesting virtual server and the one ormore donating virtual servers. The computer-implemented method furtherincludes determining a resource adjustment scenario. The resourceadjustment scenario includes one or more resource exchanges between theone or more external virtual servers. A corresponding computer programproduct and computer system are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing environment, in accordance with atleast one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts abstraction model layers, in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computing environmentsuitable for operation of a virtual resource transfer program, inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow-chart diagram of a virtual resource transfer program,in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C depict operational examples of a virtual resourcetransfer program, in accordance with at least one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computing apparatus suitable forexecuting a virtual resource transfer program, in accordance with atleast one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 1 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 1) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and virtual transfer of computing resources96.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computing environmentsuitable for operation of a virtual resource transfer program, inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention. In thecomputing environment depicted in FIG. 3, virtual server VS1 310 andvirtual server VS2 311 reside on a primary computing platform 312, whilevirtual server V3 313 and virtual server VS4 314 reside on a secondarycomputing platform 315. VS1 310 and VS3 313 are associated with Client A320, while VS2 311 and VS4 314 are associated with Client B 321. Basedon the predefined rules of resource allocation in the computingenvironment depicted in FIG. 3, Client A is not entitled to any share ofthe resources allocated to Client B without resource adjustment (i.e.Client A is “independent” of Client B).

In the computing environment depicted in FIG. 3, based on the predefinedrules of resource allocation in the computing environment, each virtualserver may use three units of resource without the need for resourceadjustment (i.e. each virtual server is “entitled to” three units ofresource). In particular, VS1 310 is entitled to resources A 330, B 331,C 332; VS2 311 is entitled to resources D 333, E 334, and F 335; VS3 313is entitled to resource G 336, H 337, and I 338; and VS4 314 is entitledto resources J 339, K 340, L 341. Some of those resources, such asresource A 330, are currently unavailable (as indicated by the resourcebeing represented as a circle), while other resources, such as resourceF 335, are currently available (as indicated by the resource beingrepresented as a pentagon). The resources (i.e. computing resources) mayinclude one or more computing resources of different kinds, such as oneor more execution resources (such as one or more processors, includingone or more computer processors), storage resources (such as one or moreof memory, hard disk, and/or other persistent storage resources),networking resources, and any other resources used in whole or in partto perform, facilitate, and/or enhance computing powers and/or computerfunctions and capabilities.

In the computing environment depicted in FIG. 3, VS1 310, which belongsto Client A 320 and resides on the primary computing platform 312, hasno available resources, as resources A 330, B 331, and C 332 are allcurrently unavailable. VS2 311, which also resides on the primarycomputing platform 312, has the available resource F 335, but belongs toClient B 321. VS3 313, which also belongs to Client A 320, has theavailable resource I 338, but resides on the secondary computingplatform 315. VS4 314, which has the available resource L 341, bothbelongs to Client B 321 and resides on the secondary computing platform315, and as such does not share either client association or computingplatform with VS1 310.

In the computing environment depicted in FIG. 3, if VS1 310 requiresadditional resources (e.g. to accomplish its performance objectives),the available resources from VS2 311 cannot be transferred to VS1 310without affecting the share of resources to which independent Client B321 is entitled. In addition, the available resources from VS3 313cannot be transferred to VS1 310 without engaging in potentially costlyinter-platform migration. Transferring available resources from VS4 314to VS1 310 both affects the share of resources to which Client B 321 isentitled and involves potentially costly inter-platform migration.

At least in some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer programshifts resources from one or more donating virtual servers (e.g. VS2311) associated with one or more donating clients (e.g. Client B 321) toa receiving virtual server (e.g. VS1 310) associated with one or morereceiving clients (e.g. Client A 320), where the donating virtualservers and the receiving virtual servers reside on the same computingplatform (i.e. are “neighbors”). In at least some of those embodiments,the program compensates the one or more donating clients through one ormore resource transfers leading to the direct or indirect transfer ofresources from the receiving clients to the donating clients (e.g. oneor more resource transfers from VS3 313 to VS4 314).

FIG. 4 is a flow-chart diagram for a virtual resource transfer program.At step 400, the program identifies a primary computing platform. Atstep 401, the program identifies one or more secondary computingplatforms. At step 402, the program identifies a requesting virtualserver residing on the primary computing platform, where the requestingvirtual server is associated with one or more requesting clients. Atstep 403, the program identifies one or more donating virtual serversresiding on the primary computing platform, where the one or moredonating virtual servers are associated with one or more donatingclients. At step 404, the program identifiers one or more externalvirtual servers residing on the one or more secondary computingplatforms. At step 405, the program determines a resource donationscenario comprising one or more resource exchanges between therequesting virtual server and the one or more donating virtual servers.At step 406, the program determines a resource adjustment scenariocomprising one or more resource exchanges between the one or moreexternal virtual servers.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are operational examples of a virtual resourcetransform program. In the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C,the name of a virtual server is in the form VS [alphabetical letter][integer number], where the alphabetical letter identifies the clientwith which a virtual server is associated, and the integer numberidentifies the computing platform on which the virtual server resides.For instance, virtual server VSC1 510 belongs to Client C and resides oncomputing platform CP1 551.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5A, in accordance with a resourcedonation scenario, the virtual resource transfer program transfersresources from VSD1 511 to VSC1 510 in primary computing platform CP1551. In accordance with a resource adjustment scenario, the programtransfers resources from VSC2 512 to VSD2 513 on secondary computingplatform CP2 552.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5B, in accordance with a resourcedonation scenario, the virtual resource transfer program transfersresources from VSD3 515 to VSC3 514 on primary computing platform CP3553. In accordance with a resource adjustment scenario, the programtransfers resources from VSC4 516 to VSD4 517 on secondary computingplatform CP4 554, and from VSC5 518 to VSD5 519 on secondary computingplatform CP5 555.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5C, in accordance with a resourcedonation scenario, the virtual resource transfer program transfersresources from VSD6 521 to VSC6 520 in primary computing platform CP6556. In accordance with a resource adjustment scenario, the programtransfers resources from VSC7 552 to VSD7 523 on secondary computingplatform CP7 557, from VSE8 525 (belonging to intermediary Client E) toVSD8 524 on secondary computing platform CP8 558, and from VSC9 526 toVSE9 527 (belonging to Client E) on secondary computing platform CP9559.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5A, only two clients (i.e. thereceiving Client C and the donating Client D) are involved in theresource donation transfers caused by the program (i.e. “the resourcedonation scenario”). Similarly, only those two clients are involved inthe resource adjustment transfers caused by the program (i.e. “resourceadjustment scenario”). As such, both the resource donation scenario onCP1 551 and the resource adjustment scenario on CP2 552 could be said tohave a “client degree” of 2. Similarly, the overall resource exchangescenario as whole (comprising both the resource donation scenario andthe resource adjustment scenario) has a client degree of 2. In theembodiment depicted in FIG. 5B, the resource donation scenario, theresource adjustment scenario, and the overall resource exchange scenariohave a client degree of 2. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5C, theresource donation scenario has a client degree of 2, but the resourceadjustment scenario and the overall resource exchange scenario have aclient degree of 3, because of the participation of intermediary ClientE.

In general, different embodiments of the present invention may have anarbitrary client degree associated with resource donation scenarios,resource adjustment scenarios and/or overall resource exchangescenarios. In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer programlimits the allowable client degree associated with resource donationscenarios, resource adjustment scenarios, and/or overall resourceexchange scenarios by one or more constant values (e.g. a maximumallowable client degree of 5 associated with resource donationscenarios, a maximum allowable client degree of 4 associated withresource adjustment scenarios, and a maximum allowable client degree of5 associated with overall resource exchanges scenarios), or by one ormore variables dependent on one or more factors (e.g. one or more oftime, system statistics, client level of privilege, etc.). In at leastsome embodiments, the client degree associated with an overall resourceexchange scenario is the larger of the client degree associated with aresource donation scenario and the client degree associated with aresource adjustment scenario, where the overall resource exchangescenario comprises the resource donation scenario and the resourceadjustment scenario.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5A, the resource donation scenariooccurs on one computing platform (i.e. CP1 551). The resource adjustmentscenario also occurs on one computing platform (i.e. CP2 552). As such,both the resource donation scenario and the resource adjustment scenariocould be said to have a “platform degree” of 1. The overall resourceadjustment scenario occurs on two computing platforms (i.e. CP1 551 andCP2 552), and thus has a platform degree of 2. In the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 5B, the resource donation scenario has a platformdegree of 1, but the resource adjustment scenario has a platform degreeof 2, and the overall resource exchange scenario has a platform degreeof 3. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5C, the resource donationscenario has a platform degree 1, but the resource adjustment scenariohas a platform degree of 3, and the overall resource exchange scenariohas a platform degree of 4.

In at least some embodiments, a resource donation scenario always has aplatform degree of 1. In general, different embodiments of the presentinvention may have an arbitrary platform degree associated with resourceadjustment scenarios and/or overall resource exchange scenarios. In someembodiments, the virtual resource transfer program transfers limits theallowable platform degree associated with resource donation scenarios,resource adjustment scenarios, and/or overall resource exchangescenarios by one or more constant values (e.g. a maximum allowableplatform degree of 1 associated with resource donation scenarios, amaximum allowable platform degree of 4 associated with resourceadjustment scenarios, and a maximum allowable platform degree of 5associated with overall resource exchanges scenarios), or by one or morevariables dependent on one or more factors (e.g. one or more of time,system statistics, client level of privilege, etc.). In at least someembodiments, the platform degree associated with an overall resourceadjustment scenario is the sum of the platform degree associated with aresource donation scenario and the platform degree associated with aresource adjustment scenario, where the overall resource exchangescenario comprises the resource donation scenario and the resourceadjustment scenario.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5A, the only resource transfer in theresource donation scenario (i.e. from donating Client D to receivingClient C) is direct (i.e. without any intermediate clients participatingin the resource transfer chain between a donating client and thereceiving client). Similarly, the only transfer in the resourceadjustment scenario (i.e. from receiving Client C to donating Client D)is direct. As such, both the resource donation scenario and the resourceadjustment scenario could be said to have a “depth” of 1. In general,the depth of a resource transfer scenario comprising one or moreresource transfers is the largest number of resource transfers that leadto a direct or indirect transfer of resources between a donating clientand the receiving client. As such, in the embodiment depicted in FIG.5A, the overall resource exchange scenario also has a depth of 1.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5B, all of three transfers betweenthe donating Client D and the receiving Client C are direct and withoutintermediary clients. The resource donation scenario comprises aresource transfer between VSD3 515 and VSC3 514 that is a directtransfer of resources between donating Client D and receiving Client C,and thus has a depth of 1. The resource adjustment scenario comprisesthe resource transfer between VSC4 516 and VSD4 517 and the resourcetransfer between VSC5 518 and VSD5 519, both of which are directresource transfers between receiving Client C and donating Client D, andas such have a depth of 1. The overall resource exchange scenariocomprises the aforementioned three direct resource transfers, and assuch has a depth of 1.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5C, the resource donation scenariocomprises a direct resource exchange between donating Client D andreceiving Client C (i.e. the resource transfer between VSD6 521 and VSC6520), and as such has a depth of 1. The resource adjustment scenarioalso comprises a direct resource exchange between receiving Client C anddonating Client D (i.e. the resource transfer between VSC7 522 and VSD7523), but also has an indirect resource exchange between Client C andClient D comprising two resource transfers (i.e. the resource transferbetween VSE8 525 and VSD8 524 and the resource transfer between VSC9 526and VSE9 527). As such, the resource adjustment scenario has a depth of2. The overall resource exchange scenario has a depth of 2 as well.

In general, different embodiments of the present invention may have anarbitrary depth associated with resource donation scenarios, resourceadjustment scenarios, and/or overall resource exchange scenarios. Insome embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program transfers limitsthe allowable depth associated with resource donation scenarios,resource adjustment scenarios, and/or overall resource exchangescenarios by one or more constant values (e.g. a maximum depth of 3 forresource donation scenarios, a maximum depth of 5 for resourceadjustment scenarios, and a maximum depth of 5 for overall resourceexchange scenarios), or by one or more variables dependent on one ormore factors (e.g. one or more of time, system statistics, client levelof privilege, etc.). In at least some embodiments, the depth of anoverall resource adjustment scenario is the larger of the depth of aresource donation scenario and the depth of a resource adjustmentscenario, where the overall resource exchange scenario comprises theresource donation scenario and the resource adjustment scenario. In someembodiments, the resource adjustment scenario, the resource donationscenario, and/or the overall resource exchange must have a depth of 1.

The virtual resource transfer program identifies a primary computingplatform at step 400 and identifies one or more secondary computingplatforms at step 401. A computing platform is any platform thatcomprises (and/or allows access to) one or more computing resources asdefined above (including one or more computer processing resourcesand/or one or more computer storage resources). In some embodiments, acomputing platform comprises one or more elements selected from a groupconsisting of one or more computer hardware components, one or morepublic clouds, one or more private clouds, and one or more data centers.In at least some embodiments, one or more virtual resources reside on acomputing platform. In at least some of those embodiments, the one ormore virtual resources residing on a computing platform are able totransfer computing resources to each other through one or moremechanisms (such as inter-hardware resource migration). In at least someembodiments, one or more virtual resources reside on a computingplatform when they are primarily associated with and/or primarily linkedto that computing platform, or when they are able to transfer computingresources to other virtual servers on the computing platform through oneor more mechanisms (such as inter-hardware resource migration).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program identifies aprimary computing platform and one or more secondary computing platformsby identifying the computing platforms on which a resource needcondition with respect to one or more virtual servers is determined. Insome of those embodiments, the program maintains a list comprisingindications of one or more computing platforms supporting one or morevirtual servers in need of additional resources and indications of oneor more computing servers not supporting one or more virtual servers inneed of additional resources, and uses that list to identify a primarycomputing platform and one or more secondary computing platforms. Insome embodiments, the program identifies a primary computing platformand one or more secondary computing platforms using one or more piecesof information provided by one or more other (hardware or software)computer components.

The virtual resource transfer program identifies a requesting virtualserver at step 402, one or more donating virtual servers at step 403,and one or more external virtual servers at step 404. In someembodiments, the program identifies a requesting virtual server byidentifying one or more virtual servers residing on the primarycomputing platform with regard to which a resource need condition isdetermined. In some embodiments, the program identifies one or moredonating virtual servers by identifying one or more virtual serversresiding on the primary computing platform with regard to which anexcess performance capacity and/or the ability to downgrade servicequality under the predefined rules of service quality (e.g. contained inone or more service level agreements associated with one or morecomponents of the computing environment in which the program isimplemented, including one or more resources, one or more clients, oneor more virtual servers, and/or one or more computing platforms) isdetermined. In some embodiment, the program identifies a requestingvirtual server, one or more donating virtual servers, and one or moreexternal virtual servers using one or more pieces of informationprovided by one or more other (hardware or software) computercomponents.

The virtual resource transfer program determines a resource donationscenario at step 405 and determines a resource adjustment scenario atstep 406. In some embodiments, the program determines a resourcedonation scenario and/or a resource adjustment scenario based on one ormore pieces of information provided by one or more other (hardware orsoftware) computer components. In some embodiments, the programdetermines a resource donation scenario and/or a resource adjustmentscenario based on the performance history of one or more computingplatforms, one or more virtual servers, and/or one or more resources. Insome embodiments, the program stores indications of one or more resourcetransfers in the resource donation scenario and/or the resourceadjustment scenario in one or more data structures in one or morecomputer readable storage media. The possible forms of computer readablestorage media comprise persistent storage components (such as the harddisks), main memory components, cache components, registers and otherstorage media components in the processing circuit, online storagecomponents, and offline bulk storage components.

In some embodiments, determining a resource need condition comprisesdetermining, for each of the one or more donating virtual servers, adonation amount, where the donation amount of a donating virtual serveris the amount of resources that the virtual server donates to arequesting virtual server as a result of a resource donation scenario.In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines adonation amount for one donating virtual server equal to the amount ofthe resource deficit determined with respect to a requesting virtualserver. In some embodiments, the program determines one or more donationamounts for one or more donating virtual servers that when summedtogether produce a value equal to the amount of the resource deficitdetermined with respect to a requesting virtual server. In someembodiments, the program allows the sum of the donation amounts for oneor more donating virtual servers to be unequal to the amount of theresource deficit determined with respect to a requesting virtual server.In some of those embodiments, the program limits by a pre-defined amount(e.g. 2 units of resources) the amount of the allowable differencebetween the sum of the donation amounts for one or more donating virtualservers and the amount of the resource deficit determined with respectto a requesting virtual server. In some embodiments, the virtualresource transfer program determines a donation amount for each of theone or more donating virtual servers based on one or more pieces ofinformation provided by one or more other (hardware or software)computer components.

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines adonation amount for each of the one or more donating virtual serversbased on the determination of one or more performance properties of oneor more virtual servers (including the requesting virtual server, theone or more donating virtual servers, and/or the one or more externalvirtual servers), for instance using one or more of the performancedetection methods introduced below (including one or more staticperformance detection methods, one or more dynamic performance detectionmethods, the latter category including one or more goal-orientedperformance detection methods).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines aresource donation scenario by estimating, measuring, and/or determiningone or more performance properties and/or performance effects of one ormore potential resource exchanges between a requesting virtual serverand one or more donating virtual servers using one or more performancedetection methods, for instance using one or more of the performancedetection methods introduced below (including one or more staticperformance detection methods, one or more dynamic performance detectionmethods, the latter category including one or more goal-orientedperformance detection methods).

In some embodiments, determining a resource adjustment scenariocomprises determining, for each of the one or more donating clients, anadjustment amount, where the adjustment amount associated with adonating client is the amount of resources that the one or more virtualservers associated with the donating client receive directly orindirectly from the one or more virtual servers associated with the oneor more receiving clients as a result of a resource adjustment scenario.In at least some of those embodiments, the virtual resource transferprogram determines an adjustment amount associated with each of the oneor more donating clients using one or more performance detectionmethods, for instance using one or more of the performance detectionmethods introduced below (including one or more static performancedetection methods, one or more dynamic performance detection methods,the latter category including one or more goal-oriented performancedetection methods).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines aresource adjustment scenario by estimating, measuring, and/ordetermining one or more performance properties and/or performanceeffects of one or more potential resource exchanges between one or moreexternal virtual servers using one or more performance detectionmethods, for instance using one or more of the performance detectionmethods introduced below (including one or more static performancedetection methods, one or more dynamic performance detection methods,the latter category including one or more goal-oriented performancedetection methods).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines aresource need condition. In some embodiments, a resource need conditionis any condition in which the program, with a pre-defined level ofcertainty (e.g. 75 percent certainty), determines that at least onevirtual server in the computing environment in which the program isimplemented needs additional resources to meet pre-defined performanceobjectives (e.g. defined in one or more service level agreements) and/orneeds additional resources to perform its computing objectives within apre-defined amount of time (e.g. successfully execute 1000 executionunits in 2 minutes).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines aresource need condition using static performance detection methods thatrely on pre-defined rules to determine one or more performanceproperties of one or more virtual servers. In some of those embodiments,the program determines a resource need condition when a virtual serveris not entitled to a pre-defined number of resource units (e.g. aparticular virtual server is not entitled to required 3 units of aparticular resource). In other embodiments using static performancedetection methods, the program determines a resource need condition whena virtual server is not entitled a pre-defined share of the computingplatform resources (e.g. a particular virtual server is not entitled to50 percent of the resources of the computing platform on which itresides). In some embodiments, the program determines a resource needcondition when a virtual server is not entitled to a required amountand/or share of resources determined based on pre-defined, staticproperties associated with the virtual server (e.g. a particular virtualserver is not entitled to 20 percent of the resources of the computingplatform on which it resides for each client with which it isassociated).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines aresource need condition using dynamic performance detection methods thatrely on one or more execution properties and/or one or more performancedetails associated with one or more virtual servers, one or moreresources, and/or one or more computing platforms to determine theperformance properties of one or more virtual servers. In some of thoseembodiments, the program determines a resource need condition when avirtual server is not entitled to a required amount and/or share ofresources determined based on one or more execution properties and/orone or more performance details associated with the virtual server (e.g.when a particular virtual server is not entitled to one percent of theresources of the computing platform on which it resides for each unit ofnetwork connection it is conducting). In some embodiments using dynamicperformance detection methods, the program determines a resource needcondition when a virtual server is not entitled to a required amountand/or share of resources determined based on the performance history ofone or more virtual resources (e.g. when a particular virtual server hasshown it needs 40 percent of the current existing resources on thecomputing platform on which it resides to reach the required speed of100,000 floating point operations per second, as determined based on itsperformance history, and is not currently entitled to a 40 percent shareof the current existing resources).

In some embodiments using dynamic performance detection methods, thevirtual resource transfer program determines a resource need conditionwhen a virtual server is not entitled to a required level (i.e. shareand/or amount) of resources determined based on one or moregoal-oriented performance detection methods, such as the approach usedin IBM® Workload Manager for z/OS® (z/OS® WLM) or other existinggoal-oriented performance detection methods known in the art today, suchas the response time analysis and the pattern searching approachesintroduced below. In some of those embodiments using dynamic performancedetection methods, the program determines a resource need condition whena virtual server is not entitled to a level of resources determinedbased on the response time of the virtual server to one or moreinstructions (including one or more machine-level instructions) and/orone or more requested operations. In other embodiments using dynamicperformance detection methods, the program determines a resource needcondition when a virtual server is not entitled to a level of resourcesdetermined based on a pattern searching approach, such as the approachadopted by the IBM® Enterprise Workload Manager™ (EWLM) or other patternsearching approaches available in the art. In some embodiments, theprogram determines a resource need condition when a virtual server isnot entitled to a level of resources determined based on the average,median, and/or mean of the one or more performance properties of one ormore processors.

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines aresource need condition based on one or more pieces of informationprovided by one or more other (hardware or software) computercomponents. In some embodiments, the program determines a resource needcondition based on factors in addition to the performance properties ofone or more virtual servers. In some embodiments, the program determinesa resource need condition using a combination of the approachesmentioned above, including one or more performance detection methods ofvarious types such as the methods mentioned above (including one or morestatic performance detection methods, one or more dynamic performancedetection methods, the latter category including one or moregoal-oriented performance detection methods).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines aresource need condition by identifying a current resource access amount,where the current resource access amount is the amount of resources thatthe requesting virtual server is entitled to (i.e. may use without needfor resource adjustment); identifying one or more performance goalsassociated with the requesting virtual server; and estimating an optimalresource access amount, where the optimal resource access amount is theamount of resources that, to satisfy the one or more performance goals,the requesting virtual server needs to be entitled to. In at least someof those embodiments, the program determines a resource need conditionif the current resource access amount is lower than the optimal resourceaccess amount. In some embodiments, the program determines the currentresource access amount and/or the optimal resource access amount usingone or more performance detection methods, for instance using one ormore of the performance detection methods introduced below (includingone or more static performance detection methods, one or more dynamicperformance detection methods, the latter category including one or moregoal-oriented performance detection methods). In some embodiments, theprogram determines one or more performance goals associated with therequesting virtual server based on the predefined rules of servicequality (for instance contained in one or more service level agreementsassociated with one or more components of the computing environment inwhich the virtual resource transfer program is implemented).

In some embodiments, determining the resource need condition comprisesdetermining whether any of the one or more receiving clients does notmeet its one or more entitlements under one or more service levelagreements. In at least some of those embodiments, the virtual resourcetransfer program ensures that each virtual server meets all of itsentitlements under one or more service level agreements at all timesduring regular, non-exceptional operations of the computing environmentin which the program is implemented. In at least some embodiments, aservice level agreement is any combination of one or more rules and/orone or more guidelines that defines, mandates and/or recommendsperformance objectives and/or performance requirements associated withone or more virtual servers, one or more clients, and/or one or morecomputing platforms, where the aforementioned performance objectivesand/or performance requirements must be met during all regular,non-exceptional operations of the computing environment in which thevirtual resource transfer program is implemented, and/or where theperformance objectives and/or performance requirements may only becompromised under zero or more pre-defined conditions (e.g. in the eventof a resource overflow).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determinesone or more resource adjustment criteria. In some embodiments, aresource adjustment criterion is a condition that must be estimated tohold, with a pre-defined level of certainty (e.g. 90 percent certainty),as a result of all regular, non-exceptional executions of an acceptableresource adjustment scenario, and/or where the condition may only becompromised under zero or more pre-defined conditions (e.g. in the eventof a resource overflow).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determinesone or more resource adjustment criteria based on the determination ofone or more performance properties of one or more virtual servers(including the requesting virtual server, the one or more donatingvirtual servers, and/or the one or more external virtual servers), forinstance using one or more of the performance detection methodsintroduced above (including one or more static performance detectionmethods, one or more dynamic performance detection methods, the lattercategory including one or more goal-oriented performance detectionmethods). In an exemplary embodiment, the program detects one or moreperformance properties of a donating virtual server before and after theexecution of a resource donation scenario using the response time of thevirtual server to one or more instructions (including one or moremachine-level instructions) and/or to one or more requested operationsbefore and after an execution of the resource donation scenario. Theprogram determines an increase in the response time and determinesand/or estimates that, to restore the response time of the virtualserver to pre-donation levels, an amount of resources equal to aspecific amount is required. The program sets a resource adjustmentcriterion that a total amount of resources equal to the specific amountshould be transferred to one or more virtual servers associated with thedonating client (i.e. the client associated with the donating virtualserver).

In some embodiments, determining the one or more resource adjustmentcriteria includes determining, for each of the one or more donatingclients, a primary resource transfer value based on one or moreoperational properties of the primary computing platform; anddetermining, for each the one or more donating clients, one or moresecondary resource transfer values, where the one or more secondaryresource transfer values are operationally equivalent to the primaryresource transfer value. In at least some embodiments, a resourcetransfer value is an indication of the amount of resources to betransferred from a set of one or more virtual servers to another set ofone or more virtual servers in one or more computing platforms based ona particular resource exchange or a particular set of resourceexchanges. In at least some embodiments, two resource transfer valuesare operationally equivalent if they represent the same amount ofcomputing power and/or performance capability. In an exemplaryembodiment, 2.5 units of resources on computing platform CP_(i) isequivalent to 3 units of resources on computing platform CP_(j) if ittakes CP_(j) 3 units of resources to accomplish the computing powerand/or performance capability obtained by CP_(i) using 2.5 units ofresources. In some embodiments, the one or more resource adjustmentcriteria comprise a criterion that the computing power and/orperformance capability of all of the one or more donating clients mustbe restored to pre-donation levels as a result of the resourceadjustment scenario. In some embodiments, determining the primaryresource transfer value comprises estimating the primary resourcetransfer value with a pre-defined level of certainty (e.g. 95 percentcertainty). In some embodiments, determining the secondary resourcetransfer value comprises estimating that value with a pre-defined levelof certainty.

In at least some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program usesone or more performance properties of one or more computing platforms todetermine operational equivalence between two resource transfer values.In at least some of those embodiments, the program determines one ormore performance properties of one or more computing platforms using oneor more performance detection values, for instance using one or more ofthe performance detection methods introduced above (including one ormore static performance detection methods, one or more dynamicperformance detection methods, the latter category including one or moregoal-oriented performance detection methods).

Determining operational equivalence between resource transfer values canbe accomplished using methods of estimating resource requirements ofvirtualized applications and/or estimating other virtualizationoverheads known in the art, such as approaches relying on profilingdifferent categories of virtualization overheads using micro-benches andusing regression models for mapping inter-platform usage profiles. Insome embodiments, the program determines operational equivalence betweenresource transfer values based on one or more pieces of informationprovided by one or more other (hardware or software) computercomponents.

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program includesdetermining, for each of the one or more donating clients, a totaldonation amount under the resource donation scenario; and determining,for each of the one or more donating clients, a total adjustment amountunder the resource adjustment scenario. The total donation amount for adonating client under a resource donation scenario is the total amountof (i.e. the sum of) direct or indirect resource transfers from one ormore virtual servers associated with the donating client to thereceiving virtual server under the resource donation scenario. The totalresource adjustment amount for a donating client under a resourceadjustment scenario is the total amount of direct or indirect resourcetransfers from one or more virtual servers associated with the one ormore receiving clients to one or more virtual servers associated withthe donating client under the resource adjustment scenario. In someembodiments, the one or more resource adjustment criteria comprise aresource adjustment criterion that, for each of the one or more donatingclients, the total donation amount must equal the total adjustmentamount. In at least some of those embodiments, a resource adjustmentscenario is only acceptable if each of the one or more donating clientsreceives one or more resource transfers equal to its donation amountthrough the one or more virtual servers associated with the donatingclient.

In some embodiments, the one or more resource adjustment criteriacomprise a resource adjustment criterion that, for each of the one ormore donating clients, the total donation amount may be unequal to thetotal adjustment amount. In some of those embodiments, the one or moreresource adjustment criteria comprise a resource adjustment criterionthat, for each of the one or more donating clients, the amount ofdifference between the total donation amount and the total adjustmentamount cannot be more than a pre-defined amount (e.g. 2 units ofresources).

In some embodiments, the one or more resource adjustment criteriacomprise a resource adjustment criterion that a resource adjustmentscenario must only comprise direct resource transfers between one ormore virtual servers associated with the one or more donating clientsand one or more virtual servers associated with the one or morereceiving clients. In at least some of those embodiments, a resourceadjustment scenario may only have a depth of 1. In some embodiments, theone or more external virtual servers are associated with the one or morerequesting clients. In some embodiments, the virtual resource transferprogram determines one or more resource adjustment criteria based on oneor more pieces of information provided by one or more other (hardware orsoftware) computer components.

In some embodiments, the one or more resource adjustment criteriacomprise a resource adjustment criterion that each of the one or moredonating clients must at all times meet its one or more entitlementsunder one or more service level agreements. In at least some of thoseembodiments, the virtual resource transfer program ensures that eachdonating virtual server meets all of its entitlements under one or moreservice level agreements at all times during regular, non-exceptionaloperations of the computing environment in which the program operates.In some embodiments, the program periodically monitors and/or detectsone or more performance properties of one or more virtual servers toensure the resource adjustment criterion that each of the one or moredonating clients must at all times meet its one or more entitlementsunder one or more service level agreements.

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determineswhether the execution of the resource adjustment scenario satisfies theone or more research adjustment criteria. In some embodiments, theprogram determines whether the execution of a resource adjustmentscenario satisfies one or more research adjustment criteria based on oneor more pieces of information provided by one or more other (hardware orsoftware) computer components. In some embodiments, the program storesindications of whether the resource adjustment scenario satisfies theone or more research adjustment criteria, for instance in one or moredata structures in one or more computer readable storage media. In someembodiments, the program determines whether the execution of a resourceadjustment scenario satisfies the one or more research adjustmentcriteria by running a simulation and/or a complete execution of theresource adjustment scenario on one or more computing platforms (e.g. ina computing environment other than the computing environment in whichthe virtual resource transfer program is implemented).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determineswhether the execution of a resource adjustment scenario satisfies one ormore research adjustment criteria by estimating, measuring, and/ordetermining one or more performance properties and/or performanceeffects of the resource adjustment scenario using one or moreperformance detection methods, for instance using one or more of theperformance detection methods introduced above (including one or morestatic performance detection methods, one or more dynamic performancedetection methods, the latter category including one or moregoal-oriented performance detection methods).

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program periodicallymonitors the performance properties and/or performance effects of theresource adjustment scenario using one or more performance detectionmethods to ensure the resource adjustment criterion that each of the oneor more donating clients must at all time meet its one or moreentitlements under one or more service level agreements. In someembodiments, the program determines whether the execution of resourceadjustment scenario satisfies the one or more research adjustmentcriteria based on the performance history of one or more computingplatforms, one or more virtual servers, and/or one or more resources.

In some embodiments, determining a resource adjustment scenario isperformed responsive to the one or more requesting clients beingindependent from the one or more donating clients. In at least someembodiments, one or more requesting clients are independent from one ormore donating clients if the one or more requesting clients are notentitled to share the resources of the one or more donating clientswithout resource adjustment. In some embodiments, the virtual resourcetransfer program determines whether one or more requesting clients areindependent from one or more donating clients based on one or moreresource exclusivity guidelines. In an exemplary embodiment, the programdetermines a set of requesting clients are independent from a set ofdonating clients if (based on an example set of resource exclusivityguidelines) the two sets share less than three identical members.

In some embodiments, the one or more requesting clients are notindependent from the one or more donating clients if the one or moredonating clients comprise the one or more requesting clients. In anexemplary embodiment, the program determines that two requesting clientsC₁ and C₂ are not independent from three donating clients C₃, C₄, and C₅if at least one of C₃, C₄, and C₅ is identical to C₁ and at least one ofC₃, C₄, and C₅ is identical to C₂. In some embodiments, the programdetermines whether one or more requesting clients are independent fromone or more donating clients based on one or more pieces of informationprovided by one or more other (hardware or software) computercomponents.

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program executes theresource donation scenario and/or the resource adjustment scenario. Insome embodiments, the program generates one or more instructions(including one or more machine-level instructions) to execute theresource donation scenario and/or the resource adjustment scenario. Insome embodiments, the program receives pre-generated and/or pre-compiledcode for executing a resource donation scenario and/or a resourceadjustment scenario obtained directly or indirectly from one or morecomputer (hardware or software) components. In some embodiments, theprogram executes the resource donation scenario and/or resourceadjustment scenario based on one or more pieces of information providedby one or more other (hardware or software) computer components, such asone or more instructions (including one or more machine-levelinstructions) generated by one or more other (hardware or software)computer components. In at least some embodiments, the program executesthe resource donation scenario and/or the resource adjustment scenarioon one or more computer execution resources, such as one or moreexternal execution resources residing outside the primary computerplatform and/or outside the one or more secondary computing platforms.

In some embodiments, the virtual resource transfer program executes theresource donation scenario and/or the resource adjustment scenarioresponsive to the resource adjustment scenario satisfying the one ormore research adjustment criteria. In some embodiments, the programretrieves the indications of whether the resource adjustment scenariosatisfies the one or more research adjustment criteria from one or moredata structures in one or more computer readable storage media.

In some embodiments, the present invention may be implemented to performinter-platform management of resources (including inter-platformtransfer of resources and intra-platform shifting of resources betweenvirtual servers associated with two or more clients) between computingplatforms of the same and/or different types, including in environmentswhere some but not all of the computing platforms are of the same type.In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention may be implemented toperform inter-platform management of resources in an environmentcomprising five computing platforms CP_(i), CP_(ii), CP_(iii), CP_(iv),and CP_(v) where CP_(i) is of the type T₁, CP_(ii) and CP_(iii) are ofthe type T₂, and CP_(iv) and CP_(v) are of the type T₃, where T₁, T₂,and T₃ are three different computing platform types. In at least someembodiments, the virtual resource transfer program determines theoperational equivalence between resource transfer values, using forinstance the methods introduced above, to facilitate inter-platformresource management of resources in environments comprising computingplatforms of two or more types.

In some embodiments, the present invention may be implemented using acentralized management unit (such as a service manager) which interactswith one or more computer (hardware or software) components in thecomputing environment in which the virtual resource transfer program isimplemented (including one or more computing platforms, one or morevirtual resources, one or more client agent software components, and/orone or more computing resources) to perform the virtual resourcetransfer program. In an exemplary embodiment, the centralized managementunit identifies the primary computing platform, one or more secondarycomputing platforms, a requesting virtual server, one or more donatingvirtual servers, one or more external virtual servers, one or morereceiving clients, and one or more donating clients throughcommunications with one or more components in the computing environmentin which the virtual resource transfer program is implemented. Relyingon one or more pieces of information obtained from communications withthe one or more components in the computing environment in which thevirtual resource transfer program is implemented, the centralizedmanagement unit determines a resource donation scenario and a resourceadjustment scenario.

In other embodiments, the present invention may be implemented without acentralized management unit, for instance using communications betweenone or more distributed management units residing on and/or beingassociated with one or more (hardware or software) components present inthe computing environment in which the present invention is implemented(including one or more computing platforms, one or more virtualresources, one or more client agent software components, and/or one ormore computing resources).

In an exemplary embodiment, a distributed management unit on a virtualserver determines a resource need condition with regard to its ownperformance and sends an indication denoting the virtual server's statusas a requesting virtual server (i.e. a “requesting indication”) to othervirtual servers on the same computer platform (i.e. the primarycomputing platform). The requesting indication contains the amount ofresources that the requesting virtual server needs and the client withwhich the requesting virtual server is associated. One or moredistributed management units on one or more virtual servers on theprimary computing platform receive the aforementioned requestingindication, determine their respective virtual servers' excessperformance capacity and/or the ability to downgrade service qualityunder the predefined rules of service quality, and send an indicationdenoting their respective virtual servers' status as a donating virtualserver (i.e. a “donating indication”) to the requesting virtual server.The donating indication from each donating virtual server contains theamount of resources that the donating virtual server can donate and theclient with which the donating virtual server is associated. Eachdistributed management unit on the primary computing platform determinesa resource donation scenario and broadcasts an indication of thatscenario to all other distributed management units on the primarycomputing platform. Each distributed management unit compares thereceived resource donation scenario indications and chooses the scenariothat has been received from the most number of distributed managementunits. One distributed management unit on the primary computingplatforms broadcasts the chosen resource donation scenario to one ormore distributed management units on one or more secondary computingplatforms.

In the exemplary embodiment using communications between one or moredistributed management units introduced above, distributed managementunits on each secondary computing platform broadcast indicationsdenoting their client association and excess performance capacity and/orthe ability to downgrade service quality under the predefined rules ofservice quality to other distributed management units on the samesecondary computing platform. Each distributed management unit on asecondary computing platform determines a resource adjustment scenarioand broadcasts an indication of that scenario to other distributedmanagement units on the same secondary computing platform. Eachdistributed management unit on the secondary computing platform comparesthe received resource adjustment scenario indications and chooses thescenario that has been received from the most number of distributedmanagement units. One distributed management unit on each secondarycomputing platform transmits the chosen resource adjustment scenario toall the distributed management units on the primary computing platform.

In the exemplary embodiment using communications between one or moredistributed management units introduced above, each distributedmanagement unit on the primary computing platform determines a resourceadjustment unit and broadcasts an indication of that scenario to otherdistributed management units on the same primary computing platform.Each distributed management unit on the primary computing platformcompares the received resource adjustment scenario indications andchooses the scenario that has been received from the most number ofdistributed management units. One distributed management unit on theprimary computing platform transmits the chosen resource adjustmentscenario to all the distributed management units on all the externalvirtual servers.

Communications between some or all computer (hardware or software)components participating in an implementation of the present inventionand/or present in the computing environment in which the presentinvention is implemented (including one or more management units, one ormore computing platforms, one or more virtual resources, one or moreclient agent software components, and/or one or more computingresources) may be performed using one or both of agent- and agent-lesscommunication methods, such as the Simple Network Management Protocol(SNMP) protocol, the Server Management Block (SMB) protocol, etc.

Aspects of the present invention allow for transfer of resources betweenvirtual servers associated with a client but residing on two or morecomputing platforms without incurring the costs of inter-platformmigration, and in a manner that allows for adjusting resources to ensurethat the resource access level of one or more donating clients is notcompromised in an unexpected and/or unauthorized manner (e.g. based onthe predefined rules of service quality for instance contained in one ormore service level agreements associated with one or more components ofthe computing environment in which the virtual resource transfer programis implemented) as a result of the transfer. Nevertheless, theaforementioned advantages are not required to be present in all of theembodiments of the invention and may not be present in all of theembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram depicting components of a computer 600suitable for executing the virtual resource transfer program. FIG. 6displays the computer 600, the one or more processor(s) 604 (includingone or more computer processors), the communications fabric 602, thememory 606, the RAM, the cache 616, the persistent storage 608, thecommunications unit 610, the I/O interfaces 612, the display 620, andthe external devices 618. It should be appreciated that FIG. 6 providesonly an illustration of one embodiment and does not imply anylimitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironment may be made.

As depicted, the computer 600 operates over a communications fabric 602,which provides communications between the cache 616, the computerprocessor(s) 604, the memory 606, the persistent storage 608, thecommunications unit 610, and the input/output (I/O) interface(s) 612.The communications fabric 602 may be implemented with any architecturesuitable for passing data and/or control information between theprocessors 604 (e.g. microprocessors, communications processors, andnetwork processors, etc.), the memory 606, the external devices 618, andany other hardware components within a system. For example, thecommunications fabric 602 may be implemented with one or more buses or acrossbar switch.

The memory 606 and persistent storage 608 are computer readable storagemedia. In the depicted embodiment, the memory 606 includes a randomaccess memory (RAM). In general, the memory 606 may include any suitablevolatile or non-volatile implementations of one or more computerreadable storage media. The cache 616 is a fast memory that enhances theperformance of computer processor(s) 604 by holding recently accesseddata, and data near accessed data, from memory 606.

Program instructions for the virtual resource transfer program may bestored in the persistent storage 608 or in memory 606, or moregenerally, any computer readable storage media, for execution by one ormore of the respective computer processors 604 via the cache 616. Thepersistent storage 608 may include a magnetic hard disk drive.Alternatively, or in addition to a magnetic hard disk drive, thepersistent storage 608 may include, a solid state hard disk drive, asemiconductor storage device, read-only memory (ROM), electronicallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or anyother computer readable storage media that is capable of storing programinstructions or digital information.

The media used by the persistent storage 608 may also be removable. Forexample, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage 608.Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, andsmart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto anothercomputer readable storage medium that is also part of the persistentstorage 608.

The communications unit 610, in these examples, provides forcommunications with other data processing systems or devices. In theseexamples, the communications unit 610 may include one or more networkinterface cards. The communications unit 610 may provide communicationsthrough the use of either or both physical and wireless communicationslinks. The virtual resource transfer program may be downloaded to thepersistent storage 608 through the communications unit 610. In thecontext of some embodiments of the present invention, the source of thevarious input data may be physically remote to the computer 600 suchthat the input data may be received and the output similarly transmittedvia the communications unit 610.

The I/O interface(s) 612 allows for input and output of data with otherdevices that may operate in conjunction with the computer 600. Forexample, the I/O interface 612 may provide a connection to the externaldevices 618, which may include a keyboard, keypad, a touch screen,and/or some other suitable input devices. External devices 618 may alsoinclude portable computer readable storage media, for example, thumbdrives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. Softwareand data used to practice embodiments of the present invention may bestored on such portable computer readable storage media and may beloaded onto the persistent storage 608 via the I/O interface(s) 612. TheI/O interface(s) 612 may similarly connect to a display 620. The display620 provides a mechanism to display data to a user and may be, forexample, a computer monitor.

The programs described herein are identified based upon the applicationfor which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of theinvention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular programnomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus theinvention should not be limited to use solely in any specificapplication identified and/or implied by such nomenclature.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:identifying a requesting virtual server residing on a primary computingplatform, the requesting virtual server associated with a requestingclient; identifying a donating virtual server residing on the primarycomputing platform, the donating virtual server associated with adonating client; identifying an external virtual server residing on asecondary computing platform outside the primary computing platform, theexternal virtual server associated with the requesting client;determining a first resource exchange between the requesting virtualserver and the donating virtual server, the first resource exchangeincluding a total donation amount from the donating virtual server tothe requesting virtual server; and determining a second resourceexchange between the external virtual server and a second virtual serverresiding on the secondary computing platform, the second virtual serverassociated with the donating client, the second resource exchangeincluding a total adjustment amount from the external virtual server tothe second virtual server; wherein: upon execution of the first resourceexchange and the second resource exchange, the total donation amount isequal to the total adjustment amount.
 2. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, further comprising: determining a resource need conditionfor the requesting virtual server.
 3. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 2, wherein determining the resource need condition comprisesdetermining whether a first service level corresponding to therequesting client does not meet an entitlement under a first servicelevel agreement (SLA).
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein the set of resource adjustment criteria includes a resourceadjustment criterion that a second service level to the donating clientmust meet a second service level agreement (SLA).
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the requesting virtualserver requires a first resource, the first resource being available tothe donating virtual server according to a first service agreement; theexternal virtual server has access to a second resource according to asecond service agreement; the first resource is the total donationamount and the second resource is the total adjustment amount wherebythe first resource exchange and the second resource exchange comply withthe first service agreement and the second service agreement withrespect to total available resources.
 6. A computer program productcomprising a computer readable storage medium having a set ofinstructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor, causesthe processor to manage resources in a multi-tenant environment by:identifying a requesting virtual server residing on a primary computingplatform, the requesting virtual server associated with a requestingclient; identifying a donating virtual server residing on the primarycomputing platform, the donating virtual server associated with adonating client; identifying an external virtual server residing on asecondary computing platform outside the primary computing platform, theexternal virtual server associated with the requesting client;determining a first resource exchange between the requesting virtualserver and the donating virtual server, the first resource exchangeincluding a total donation amount from the donating virtual server tothe requesting virtual server; and determining a second resourceexchange between the external virtual server and a second virtual serverresiding on the secondary computing platform, the second virtual serverassociated with the donating client, the second resource exchangeincluding a total adjustment amount from the external virtual server tothe second virtual server; wherein: upon execution of the first resourceexchange and the second resource exchange, the total donation amount isequal to the total adjustment amount.
 7. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the program instructions further cause the processor tomanage resources in a multi-tenant environment by: determining aresource need condition for the requesting virtual server.
 8. Thecomputer program product of claim 7, wherein determining the resourceneed condition comprises instructions to determine whether a firstservice level corresponding to the requesting client does not meet anentitlement under a first service level agreement (SLA).
 9. The computerprogram product of claim 7, wherein the set of resource adjustmentcriteria includes a resource adjustment criterion that a second servicelevel to the donating client must meet a second service level agreement(SLA).
 10. A computer system comprising: a processor set; and a computerreadable storage medium; the processor set is programmed to run programinstructions stored on the computer readable storage medium; and theprogram instructions which, when executed by the processor set, causethe processor set to manage resources in a multi-tenant environment by:identifying a requesting virtual server residing on a primary computingplatform, the requesting virtual server associated with a requestingclient; identifying a donating virtual server residing on the primarycomputing platform, the donating virtual server associated with adonating client; identifying an external virtual server residing on asecondary computing platform outside the primary computing platform, theexternal virtual server associated with the requesting client;determining a first resource exchange between the requesting virtualserver and the donating virtual server, the first resource exchangeincluding a total donation amount from the donating virtual server tothe requesting virtual server; and determining a second resourceexchange between the external virtual server and a second virtual serverresiding on the secondary computing platform, the second virtual serverassociated with the donating client, the second resource exchangeincluding a total adjustment amount from the external virtual server tothe second virtual server; wherein: upon execution of the first resourceexchange and the second resource exchange, the total donation amount isequal to the total adjustment amount.
 11. The computer system of claim10, wherein the program instructions further cause the processor tomanage resources in a multi-tenant environment by: determining aresource need condition.
 12. The computer system of claim 11, whereindetermining the resource need condition comprises instructions todetermine whether a first service level corresponding to the requestingclient does not meet an entitlement under a first service levelagreement (SLA).
 13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the set ofresource adjustment criteria includes a resource adjustment criterionthat a second service level to the donating client must meet a secondservice level agreement (SLA).